Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Dosas and sauerruben and t'ej

I'm not sure if the honey wine (t'ej) is taking off. The recipe says that in three or four days it should start bubbling, at which point I am supposed to transfer it to the jug. It has not yet started to bubble, but I am not too disheartened yet because my kitchen is really cold, so it could just be taking a few extra days. When I went to My Old Kentucky Homebrew to buy an airlock, I talked to the very helpful worker (who is probably the owner), and he told me I should probably add some champagne yeast. I bought it for $.89, but Bill talked me out of using it. As he said, the fun in what I'm doing really is wild fermentation. So I'm just going to be patient and "(t)rust that the yeast will be drawn to the sweet honey-water from the air" (Katz, 2003, p. 29).

We are having one of Bill's coworkers and his wife and daughter over for dinner on Friday. I am going to make Indian food and was thinking I would just serve naan that I bought in the store. BORING! Instead I'm going to make dosas, which are essentially Indian pancakes made with a batter of fermented lentils and rice. I soaked the lentils and rice overnight, and then I put them in the food processor with some yogurt and extra whey I had in the fridge. This batter will ferment for about 48 hours, and then I will thin the batter with some water and add a few extras (e.g., cilantro, garlic) then make them on our cast-iron griddle. I will report back on how they turn out.

I'm still figuring out what to do with all those turnips, and I found a recipe in Wild Fermentation for sauerruben, which is pretty much sauerkraut, but it's made with turnips rather than cabbage. I made it exactly the same way, shredding my turnips in the food processor, adding salt and caraway seeds, mashing the heck out of it with the potato masher, and then packing it tightly into a crock with a weight.

And speaking of turnips, I tasted the turnip kimchi today, and it is very interesting, very spicy. I think it will be ready by Friday so those poor souls coming for dinner on Friday will get to (be forced to out of politeness?) taste it.

I ordered some seeds today for my garden. I am very excited about having my first garden, but I am extremely intimidated by it. I hope I get at least some yield. The seeds I ordered include the following: beets, spinach (two types), lettuce (2 types), kale, and cilantro. I am going to start out small, with some of my favorite (all greens, including the greens from the beets) and most used (beets, for the juice) vegetables.